Page 78 of Lady of Ashes

He had felt her. For a brief moment, he had felt excruciating pain like he had never felt before. That had ceased the moment she had slipped into unconsciousness, but their twin ?ame bond was there. It was faint, like it had been a few weeks ago when she’d managed to tell him she was with Alaric. Had this been the state she was in when that had happened? Had she been lying unconscious in a dungeon study while the Assassin Lord and Mikale, and whoever that cloaked stranger had been, looked on?

“This needs to be timed perfectly.”

Sorin looked up to ?nd Hazel standing beside the bed. She had only moved from Cassius’s side a few times. The others had all gone to help Nuri with the children that had been brought here. Someone was ?nding additional staff for the Black Halls. Cyrus was returning every two hours to give Cassius more blood.

“It will be,” Juliette answered, taking the dagger that Nuri was handing to her.

Sorin reached for it, too. Scarlett obviously needed Fae blood. That was what the cloaked male had given her. He’d thought about it the entire time he’d watched over her, but sitting in a chair beside that bed, holding her hand or rubbing her back simply hadn’t been enough. He’d needed to hold her, needed to reassure himself thatshe was here, that she was back with him. When she’d ?nally loosened her grip enough on Cassius to be moved from his side, he had pulled her into his lap. He’d only had her there a few minutes when she had begun to stir awake and the Oracle had shown up.

She will not be the same as when she left.

Juliette’s words had swirled in his head as he held her against his chest, felt her breathing naturally fall into sync with his own. He watched as Cyrus gave Cassius blood every few hours, his eyes on Sorin every time. He knew his Second had the same questions swirling in his mind. He could only assume by the High Witch’s vague questions and references that Eliné was not truly Scarlett’s mother, but then who was? The only bloodline that had needed Fae for magic replenishing and healing were the Avonleyans. Hazel had told them that Scarlett was born in the Witch Kingdoms, so how had an Avonelyan gotten here to birth a child? And where was she now? And what of Scarlett’s father?

He shoved all those thoughts and questions aside, focusing on his wife. He tried to take the dagger from Juliette, but she did not offer it to him. Instead, she shook her head.

“Not yet, Prince.”

“What do you mean not yet? She is unconscious. She was in horrendous pain,” Sorin argued.

“You could feel her?” Juliette asked, her eyes widening slightly with what appeared to be anticipation. “Can you now?”

“I could for a brief moment. Now it is very muted. Faint, but there,” Sorin answered, reaching for the dagger again.

“Patience, Fire Lord,” Nuri drawled sarcastically, dropping to her knees at Scarlett’s head. She was still in her full Death’s Shadow gear, clearly not having taken any time to change since arriving with the children.

“No,” Sorin snarled. “Tell me what the fuck is happening, or she gets my blood now, even if I have to rip my arm open with my teeth.”

“She cannot,” Hazel cut in. “She possesses a Mark of her own that prevents her from speaking of what she knows.”

“Butshecan,” he said with a jerk of his chin to Juliette.

“Trust the Fates, Sorin,” Juliette said, her tone softening a touch. “This needs to happen.”

“What exactly are we waiting for?” he demanded, his gaze ?xed on Scarlett’s face.

“Tell me when you can feel her as before. Tell me when her Mark is broken,” Juliette said, beginning to pace back and forth beside Scarlett’s still form. “They gave her enough to keep her from weakening completely. If they had let her, the Blood Mark she enacted would have shattered, the magic breaking. They gave her just enough to keep that from happening, but not enough to replenish any of her power.”

“She threw ?re and froze it,” he muttered, smoothing hair back from her face. “I think they failed.”

“Not that power,” Juliette said, glancing over her shoulder at Hazel. “The problem is, when that Mark is broken, it will reestablish all her bonds, including the one with her Guardian. A Guardian is required to do whatever is necessary to ensure the survival of their charge, including using their own power to heal them, even at the cost of their own life. She will start pulling power from him because she is so weak physically and that could …”

“Kill him,” Sorin ?nished. “If this kills him, if she knows thatsheessentially killed him by siphoning all his power … You know she will not recover from that, right?”

“Yes, but even with the bond blocked, she is still trying to draw power from him, especially when touching him. The physical connection … It is why he is not healing,” Juliette replied, her eyes going back to Scarlett as her breathing changed, becoming more ragged.

“Get ready, Juliette,” Nuri said, her gloved hands coming to Scarlett’s shoulders, pressing down as if to restrain her.

“Let her go,” Sorin snarled, reaching to shove her back, but Nuri hissed at him, her fangs sliding free.

“She will be feral when she wakes,” Nuri snapped. “Her magic will have taken over. She will be in a state of survival.”

“I can handle it,” Sorin retorted.

“You fool,” Nuri laughed coldly. “She will be at your throat before you have a chance to stop her.”

“Are you saying she will be like a Night Child?” he asked, understanding trickling through him.

“Yes, but not always, Sorin,” Juliette cut in. “There are other ways the Avonleyans siphon power. They banished feeding this way centuries ago. This is a last resort, only to be used when there is no other option.”

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